


Good Goddess

by ChingKittyCat



Series: Dream Defending Demon [1]
Category: Hoshi no Kaabii | Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Ascension, Demons, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25546756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChingKittyCat/pseuds/ChingKittyCat
Summary: In the past, dream magic's study had been destroyed by eNeMeE to make sure his war went on unabated.On the brink of a new war, his evil hand has razed and destroyed, and dream magic's feeble following may dwindle into extinction because of it.The Star Warriors and GSA hatched a plan to keep dream magic around forever; fight fire with fire.King Arthur asked for a volunteer to raise their hand, to willingly submit their eternal soul to demonhood.
Series: Dream Defending Demon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851175
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Good Goddess

The throne room was silent when she put her hand up. The front of the crowd, the cream of the crop, Tiff, had put her hand up and volunteered herself. Meta Knight had grabbed her arm to try and put it back down, but she'd ripped it from him easily to keep it held high.

"Tiff." Meta Knight sounded wary. 

Even King Arthur was hesitant to notice her willingness to donate herself to their cause, eyes drifting amongst the crowd quietly, waiting for someone to convince her to put it down. Much to his own regret, no one else wanted to doom themselves so thoroughly.. Other than her.

"Sir Tiff.." King Arthur kept a woefully pleasant tone. "Thank you for volunteering."

"It's my duty as a citizen of the universe, and as a knight, to keep people safe." Tiff had stated, fully confident in her words.

Meta Knight withdrew any attempts to dissuade her. She was dead set on doing her duty. She had seen a fair bit as a child, some as an adult, but this would be.. Much more than anything she would ever be able to handle. 

"I want to ask, because I'm curious, are you absolutely sure?" The king wondered.

"eNeMeE has to be stopped by any means necessary. I don't want any kids to go through what Kirby went through," Tiff's hands tightened their balling in her gauntlets, "or to go through the horrors of war, like I'm sure many people did when it was happening. I want everyone to live in peace, and without having to fear him. If this- If I have to do this, to make sure that happens, then I will. No matter what."

"Does anyone object?" 

The king looked amongst the crowd of new age Star Warriors and high ranking GSA officials. No one wanted to take her place, and what was to come was absolutely necessary if they wanted to stop him from rising to power again.

"Me!" Kirby shouted. "Tiff, no!"

Kirby shoved his way over to her and grabbed her by her armored hands. Tiff embraced her adoptive little brother in a hug without a second thought, hoping that would calm him down.

"Will you take her place, then?" 

Kirby did not reply to Arthur, just holding onto Tiff. The king sighed and stood from his throne, where his maids and servants watched him eagerly, seeing if they could assist him with any part of the incoming ceremonies.

"Then Sir Tiff, please come with me. Nova is waiting for you."

Tiff nodded solemnly before letting go of Kirby, leaving him with Meta Knight. The pink blacksmith looked positively miserable, whilst Meta Knight, stoic as ever, simply watched as Tiff and King Arthur, along with a few of the servants, disappeared behind a door.

Tiff had walked through the halls of Arthur's palace many times, but this time they felt different. The bustle of the castle was less hurried, more focused. A maid strode by Tiff's side, a pillow in her hands comforting a Star Rod; one of Kirby's works. 

"To us Batamon," King Arthur walked and talked, "other species are like children. We have very long lives, so to see you throwing yours away like this, so young in comparison to us, it makes people like Sir Meta Knight and myself question you."

"I'm middle age." Tiff grumbled. "But I guess sooner or later, I'm going to have the same view of other people too."

The thought of a longer life sounded like such a good thing. Immortality, agelessness, things like that.. Unachievable dreams that mortals could never hope for. They were reserved for demons, things that caused destruction and death across the cosmos. Things like eNeMeE, like Void Termina, like all the other things she and Kirby had to face together in these recent years.

The worst people always got to live and  _ thrive _ , didn't they? 

"Would you like to tell your mother about this before we-"

"I already told her," Tiff interrupted him, "I was thinking about this when the project first started. I had an argument with her, I don't think she'll ever be okay with it. But maybe one day, she'll understand. My brother was fine with it."

"Well, at least your brother has come to terms with it." 

After passing numerous large tapestries and portraits and various other works of art, the hallway ended at a grand door leading to the palace gardens. Pushed open by the servants, they continued their walk down a cobblestone path, with Tiff admiring the blossoms that grew from every corner of the garden; including its very edge.

The garden ended in a sheer drop off into space. The whole palace was a floating island, drifting throughout the cosmos. The view was spectacular, with Nova clashing against the ivory blackness of space's void with its vibrant golden sheen. Tiff admired it once she was in place, in a small cobblestone circle made to be a small plaza amongst the garden.

Tiff picked up the Star Rod from the maid next to her. The maid was more than willing to scuttle away, alongside the other servants.

Nova was a fair bit out from the island as to keep everyone's ears intact. How Nova spoke in space was a mystery still not uncovered.

"WHAT IS YOUR WISH? ...>" Its voice echoed.

"Nova, I wish to become a demon!" Tiff called out to it. "Make me a demon out of dream magic, like this Star Rod is made out of!"

Nova's eyes opened slightly, lazily, as it calculated her wish. It closed its eyes momentarily, then opened them once more, staring through her.

"I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH. I WILL NEED MORE POWER STARS TO FULFILL YOUR WISH. ...>"

Tiff looked to Arthur, expectantly. The king did a single gesture, and in a moment, ships surrounded Nova. From the ships, out poured Power Stars, collected from all corners of the galaxy. They were uncommon, but not excruciatingly rare. They flew into the clock, through any hole or orfice they could find to soar straight into its heart.

After the last neon power source had been emptied, Nova looked upon the mortals infront of it.

"THE WISH YOU WANT.. TO BECOME A DEMON... I WILL GRANT IT. GIVE ME THE MAGIC ITEM FOR YOU WISH TO BE MADE OF. ...>"

Nova's eyes shone brightly, overshadowing its pupils and irises, into bright spotlights. Tiff had to shield herself from them, but she still threw the Star Rod straight into the void between them, where it accelerated all the way into Nova's mouth.

Nova echoed a countdown, and upon hitting zero, all she saw was white.

When her eyes cleared, she felt no different. The only thing noticeable now was that Nova had disappeared. Without a single word, without any warning or instruction. The Star Rod, one of many, was just.. Gone. 

"Did it work?" Tiff wondered, confused.

"I would assume the person who'd know something like that would be you." Arthur was equally puzzled. "Do you feel any different?"

Tiff looked down at herself, flexing her muscles and twirling around as if to see if she'd grown a tail or spikes. She felt her head for horns, but still, nothing. That is, until she decided to examine her hands. She hadn't noticed because of her gauntlets, but.. Her fingers. They were like claws. Instead of being rounded at the end, they were pointed. It was not as if she'd grown nails, it was like her  _ flesh  _ had been distorted to be pointed at the end.

Feeling them, she was not cut. They were smooth and gave way to her palm, not stabbing her like claws normally would. They were just differently shaped. But that was as good an indicator as any that something had changed with her. She wiggled her new claws, then quickly stuffed them back into her metal gloves.

Now that she thought about it, she did feel a little peckish. 

"I feel a bit hungry, actually."

"Then lets prepare a feast." King Arthur was relieved.

* * *

Despite how much she ate, nothing ever felt enough. Her body became full, but the craving grew more and more. Not to mention, oddly enough, despite how much she ate, her muscles slowly began to wither. It's like she'd gone on a diet of absolutely no food. It was positively awful. 

Yet still, she soldiered on. She had to find a way to tap into dream magic, which we was supposedly made of, even though she couldn't find a way to properly feed herself. Maybe if Nova had told her any explanation, this would be a lot easier.

Kirby rang the breakfast bell, and Tiff walked to the dinnertable after getting herself out of bed. It was like she was hauling a sack of bricks, her body was so heavy with exhaustion.

"Okay?" Kirby asked.

"I could be a lot better.." Tiff almost whispered, drunk from sleep. "I'm still hungry."

"Try." 

Kirby set down her food infront of her, a simple little cutesy plate of egg fried rice. It was fairly simple, but Kirby would add his own little garnishes of cuteness onto it. Today, he had shaped some of the carrots around into a little heart ontop of the rice. 

Tiff dug into it like a starved animal, cleaning her bowl, but even still, nothing. It's like she had some sort of condition that kept her feeling starved, despite her body being fed. She had already called a doctor, but the medics said there was nothing wrong with her body or her brain. 

She didn't doubt this was a demon thing.

"I'm still hungry. I need to find out what I have to eat. eNeMeE eats fear, so I must eat some sort of emotion too.. Maybe I can just live off positivity?" Tiff mused to herself, thinking out loud while Kirby sat down to eat. "No, it has to be something specific, obviously.."

Tiff trailed off into her thoughts while Kirby ate. He probably didn't want to be bothered with this, especially since it was more her problem than his. He wouldn't be of too much help anyways.

She didn't know how feeding worked. She needed to fix that somehow, but who was she supposed to ask? There was no one she knew who 'fed' or was a demon.. Except for the local warlord, eNeMeE, prone on a brand new universal war to end all resistance ever. Something tells her that she wouldn't get any willing answers out of him. Plus, she didn't want to talk to him, only beat the tar out of him.

Maybe Meta Knight could help her.. No, what would he be able to tell her that she didn't already know? She was on her own.

Kirby finished up his food. He left the room for a moment. Tiff watched him leave, then return with a small box, which he'd put onto the table next to her empty bowl.

"What's this?" She'd asked, but he just looked up at her with an expectant, excited expression.

With not a moment more, she opened it.

Inside was a rather fancy looking Star Rod. Kirby had worked for ages on it, and holding it in her hands after his craftsmanship had paid off spectacularly, all she could think about was how starved she was. She tried to shake it off, thinking she was being ungrateful for not being excited for this, but the pain was just overpowering.

She looked at Kirby, drearily smiling, thinking that this might've been the same problem Kirby felt when he was a baby. She shook it off. Even Kirby was satisfied. Nothing satisfied her.

Except looking at the Star Rod in her hands.

Which she put the Warp Star end into her mouth, bit down, and swallowed, almost by some rabid instinct. Kirby hadn't even the chance to explain it nor what special features it gave before Tiff had snapped off the end like someone who bit popsicles.

She felt it disappear, almost melt inside of her mouth like cotton candy. It wasn't sweet. It was some slice of heaven. It was, more importantly, filling. Kirby's deep horror snapped her out of her trance as she forced the stick out of her mouth, looking sheepish. She quickly put it back.

* * *

"I need to be able to get into the Dream Realm. Since I'm a demon made out of dream magic, I need to feed off dreams."

"We don't know how to get you there." King Arthur said, solemnly. "Dream Fountains are supposedly a portal, but that's just a rumor. No one, not even fish, can reach the bottom to get into the Dream Realm."

Tiff paced about the room while Meta Knight watched on blankly. Ever since she'd called this meeting, all he did was sit and stare, completely unhelpful without a single bit of input. 

"Meta Knight, c'mon. You have to know something about how to get there. Hasn't eNeMeE said anything?"

Tiff couldn't believe that even now, the wizard was still bothering Meta Knight. It disgusted her. Meta Knight stayed quiet, then hummed, pursing through his memories like a mother at the checkout aisle of the grocery store looking through her change-purse.

"He is billions of years old, and his memory has failed him since the war. The Dream Realm is second nature to him, I would not doubt he has had the ability to go there since he was created." 

Meta Knight's grim attitude didn't help the situation at all either. Anything about eNeMeE and how his rule over the Dream Realm worked was undoubtably lost to time sheerly because of how long ago that was. Sure, fossils and bones could survive through millenias, but information like that simply couldn't. Papers withered and faded, stone tablets could crumble, and there was not a single demon alive who could or would tell them anything.

Except maybe Necrodeus, but considering how busy that guy was (what with keeping track of he afterlife), he probably wouldn't remember either. Not like they're going to get a sophisticated chat out of anyone else other than him, much less one that'd give them any information. They may've been immortal, but even their brains probably had limits on how much information they could store.

"Could we just wish on Nova to bring me there?" Tiff sounded eager.

"We don't have any Power Stars left to summon Nova," King Arthur sighed, "much less power it up enough to send you there."

Tiff wondered briefly, then snapped her fingers. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it earlier?

"Star Dream! What if we get Star Dream to send me there? It can use portals!" Tiff thought she'd stumbled on a fantastic revelation, but then the next step hit her like a bag of bricks. "Oh, but then I wouldn't be able to get back out without Star Dream, would I? Hmm.."

It seems they were at an impasse..

"Wait, Star Dream is an ancient computer, it probably knows things about how to get there in the first place! Yeah, we don't have to ask it to send me there, just how to find a way there."

"Then we'll find it and bring it to the castle for questioning." King Arthur agreed.

Meta Knight had nothing to add.


End file.
